The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) is a UK charity (charity number: 289145) which sees more than 80,000 women nationally to provide reproductive healthcare advice and services. Pregnancy, especially those which are unexpected, can cause many issues including health complications and BPAS works with women to give them the support that they need during hard times throughout pregnancy. BPAS also provide contraception and STI testing.
I visited the Northampton branch to discuss the work that the charity does and to learn more about how they can help the residents of our town. BPAS were able to outline that – thanks to the work of reproductive healthcare organisations – there has been a dramatic improvement in sexual and reproductive health outcomes in recent years. For example, figures have shown a reduction in the teenage pregnancy rate in our town. I believe that women should be given all the support that they need during pregnancy and that professional counselling on all the options available to women can only be a positive. Having the information allows women to make the right choices for them and their families.